Review

Nick Drake was born to ex-patriot parents residing in Burma in 1948. By 1974 he was a relatively unknown musician, living with his parents at their home in Tamworth-In-Arden.

On the evening of November 24th Nick's mother saw him go into his bedroom, 'Is that you off to bed Nick?', she called. Later on that night Nick ingested a quantity of an antidepressant called Tryptizol, over the prescribed amount, and died on his bed in his
room.

Since the mid-90’s Nick’s music has been discovered by a much wider audience, and was used on a Volkswagen television advertisement in 2000. He was a modern day propagator of English folk music, and is cited by many contemporary artists such as Badly Drawn Boy, Lucinda Williams and Graham Coxon (Blur) as an important influence.

A Skin Too Few: The Days of Nick Drake, a 48 minute film exploring the work and life of the 70's musician Nick Drake received two screenings to full audiences at the Glasgow Film Theatre last Friday. Cally Callomon, manger of Nick Drake's Estate, Bryter Music, provided a short introduction and an insightful questions and answers session after both showings.

The film opens with a scrawl of eloquent lyrics and a sigh, which immediately convey two things about the film's subject: his creative artistry and prevailing discontent in his perception of life, setting the film's tone with clever simplicity. What follows is an unobtrusive and meandering collection of images and interviews with relatives, friends and colleagues, all set to a soundtrack of Nick's songs.

A Skin Too Few leaves as much open to the interpretation of the viewer as it provides any insight into the mysticism that surrounds Nick's music and character. A stilled image of gnarled tree roots, cyclists riding up and down a Cambridge lane way, a car-trip through London's wet streets and poignant images of the British countryside perhaps try to suggest the life that passed through Nick's artistic eyes.

Interviews with his sister, and audio tapes of his mother and father, portray an upper-middle class loving family with inherent creativity - his mother being a recorded singer and his sister an actor - whose mater of fact recollections insightfully reveal some of Nick's personal thoughts and feelings, while avoiding their own emotional pain of his death.

Interviews with those responsible for production of his albums and arrangement of touring dates subtly, but more acutely, reveal the shock of losing someone they regarded as a musician and person of distinct quality.

Speaking to Cally Callomon after the first viewing, I asked him what he liked about the way Jeroen Berkvens, the director, approached this project:

'Firstly, Jeroen is a Dutchman. I think continental Europeans have a different perspective on such subjects and this helped create an angle that I personally was pleased with.

He used 35 mm and full songs, which give it a particular effect. Secondly, unlike other music documentaries, or biopics, the film does not chronicle Nick Drake or provide layers of factual information. It is intended for audiences to interpret and form their own ideas; a lot of the footage in between interviews and voice-overs is a type of filler, used to let viewers contemplate what they have just heard.'

The bold statement made in A Skin Too Few explains the continued interest in Nick’s music - 'Once you discover Nick Drake you will pass it on to someone else.'

You will pass it on because these records are a true source of creativity that are difficult to categorise into a genre, suggestively guess at any influence or compare to anything that has been made since. They encapsulate originality.

Family Tree, a compilation of previously unreleased Nick Drake songs and a handful of Molly Drake songs, is scheduled for release on June 19th, 2007.